25052022-TTB-01.qxd 5/25/2022 12:25 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 142 NO.143 | 14 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HARYANA IMF: WORLD ECONOMY HAS BUFFER AGAINST RECESSION BUSINESS /thetribunechd MILITANTS USING PISTOLS FOR TARGETED KILLINGS: IGP J&K SNOW HITS TRAFFIC ON MANALI-LEH HIGHWAY HIMACHAL RAHUL’S MEETING WITH CORBYN TRIGGERS ROW BACK PAGE wednesday | 25 may 2022 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Punjab Health Minister sacked on corruption charge, arrested Mohali court sends Singla, aide to 3-day police remand Ruchika M Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 24 In a dramatic turn of events, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann today sacked Health Minister Dr Vijay Singla over alleged corruption charges. The latter was arrested shortly afterwards. The action came just two months after the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in the state, with CM Mann asserting his government has zero tolerance towards corruption. Singla’s OSD and nephew Pradeep Kumar has also been arrested. A case under Sections 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered on the complaint of Rajinder Singh, Superintending Engineer, Punjab Health Systems Corporation. Both were produced before a Mohali court, which remanded them to police custody for three days. Rajinder Singh alleged Singla demanded 1 per cent commission in tenders and purchases of his department. A purported recording of their conversation reached continued on page 10 edit: health minister arrested ‘Audio clip’ of ~5 lakh deal did the duo in Vishav Bharti Tribune News Service Ex-minister Dr Vijay Singla in Mohali police custody. PHOTO: VICKY DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS APRIL Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh summoned by Minister Vijay Singla and his OSD, demanding ~1.16 crore commission MAY 8, 10, 12 & 13 WhatsApp calls exchanged between SE & accused MAY 23 SE makes audio recording at meeting where he is purportedly asked to pay up ~10 lakh & 1% commission on future tenders MAY 24 (8 AM): Singla summoned by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and confronted with audio clip; minister Singla admits it is his voice 11 AM: FIR filed against duo | 2.05 PM: Vijay Singla, Pradeep arrested 6.35 PM: Both accused sent to three-day police custody MOHALLA CLINICS MAY BE DELAYED ■ Singla’s ouster likely to cast shadow over AAP’s schemes, including mohalla clinics ■ As CM Mann has 28 portfo- lios, he may be unable to coordinate with health staff ZERO TOLERANCE TOWARDS CORRUPTION, SAYS CM MANN Chandigarh, May 24 An audio clip in which Vijay Singla and his OSD and nephew Pradeep Kumar are purportedly heard discussing the logistics of receiving Rs 5 lakh bribe from a Superintending Engineer landed them in police net. The audio recording was done on Monday in Singla’s office in the Secretariat. According to the FIR, Superintending Engineer Rajinder Singh, posted at Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC), was approached by Pradeep, who told the former to meet the minister immediately in Punjab Bhawan’s Room No. 203. During the meeting, the FIR says, the minister asked the SE to take instructions from Pradeep. Following that, Pradeep told the SE that the latter had allotted civil works worth Rs 41 crore and had paid Rs 17 crore in March to various contractors. continued on page 10 Militants kill cop, injure ASIsays deities in Qutub daughter in Srinagar complex can’t be allowed Samaan Lateef Srinagar, May 24 Militants killed a policeman and injured his minor daughter in Srinagar today even as the security forces launched a massive operation against over-ground workers and hybrid militants in the Valley. Constable Saifullah Qadri and his nine-year-old daughter were attacked outside their house in Anchar area. Qadri succumbed to his injuries. His daughter, who sustained a bullet injury in her right arm, is under treatment at SKIMS Hospital. “We pay our rich tributes to HP paper leak: DIG, 3 SPs on printing panel under lens Bhanu P Lohumi Tribune News Service Shimla, May 24 Investigations by the SIT probing the constable recruitment scam revealed that the paper was leaked at the printing stage and not at the setting stage. The four-member printing committee entrusted to supervise printing of papers has come under lens. A handwritten question bank of 200 questions was prepared by the paper setting committee. It was found the candidates, who had access to the paper, knew only about the final 80 questions. Sources said the authorities were contemplating to recommend administrative action against the four members of the printing committee, comprising a DIG and three SPs. Candidates who had cleared the physical test were contacted by agents with the help of coaching centres. One of the kingpins Shiv continued on page 10 Air surcharge: Leh and beyond Rs 2.00 Locals at the murder site. PTI the martyr and stand by the family at this critical juncture,” the Kashmir Police continued on page 10 New Delhi, May 24 Amid a raging controversy over claims and counterclaims on historic monuments, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Tuesday opposed before a Delhi court a plea demanding restoration of Hindu and Jain deities inside the Qutub Minar complex. The ASI, which has the mandate to protect and preserve ancient monuments, said it’s not a place of worship and the existing status of the monument could not be altered. It would be contrary to the law to agree to the contention of any person claiming continued on page 10 IN BRIEF Arson in Andhra town, minister’s house torched AMARAVATI: Protesters in Amalapuram allegedly set ablaze the house of state minister P Viswarupu over the move to rename Konaseema district as BR Ambedkar Konaseema. PTI 80% in 15 to 18 age group administered first shot NEW DELHI: Over 80 per cent of people aged between 15 and 18 years have received the first dose of Covid vaccine, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. TNS MNS leader tweets picture of Pawar with BJP MP MUMBAI: MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande on Tuesday tweeted a photo of NCP chief Sharad Pawar with BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh and claimed they had formed an “alliance” against Raj Thackeray. PTI UP COURT TO DECIDE ON MAINTAINABILITY A Varanasi court has fixed May 26 for hearing on the maintainability of GyanvapiShringar Gauri complex case. District Judge AK Vishevesh will hear the matter as per SC directions. To check inflation, restrictions on sugar export from June 1 NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday imposed restrictions on sugar exports from June 1, a move aimed at increasing availability of the commodity in the domestic market and curbing price rise. “Export of sugar (raw, refined and white sugar) is placed under restricted category from June 1 onwards,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said. INSIDE Jind villagers ‘hire’ pvt teachers for govt school Deepender Deswal Tribune News Service Hisar, May 24 Youths of Shamlo Kalan village in Julana block of Jind have pooled funds and “hired” two private teachers at the village’s government primary school, even as the Haryana Education Department dubbed the move illegal. The school has three teachers for 82 students in Classes I to V . Block Education Officer SN Sharma says the primary school has adequate staff as per NO SHORTAGE, MOVE ILLEGAL The dept doesn’t allow private teachers. The school has 82 students. Three teachers are enough as per Education department’s ‘one teacher for 30 students’ norm. SN Sharma, BLOCK EDUCATION OFFICER ❝ the Education Department’s norm of one teacher for every 30 students. “The department doesn’t allow any school to hire private teachers,” he says, adding that he is not aware of any such appointment at the Shamlo Kalan primary school. Head teacher Sudesh Sehrawat says there is no vacancy at the school. “However, a few youths have hired two teachers for teaching math and English in Classes IV and V students. Three of us (government continued on page 10 (From R) PM Modi, Japan PM Fumio Kishida, US President Joe Biden and Australian PM Anthony Albanese. PTI In message to China, Quad opposes altering status quo Calls for rules-based order in Indo-Pacific region Sandeep Dikshit Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 24 In a clear message to China, the leaders of the Quad grouping, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, on Tuesday opposed “any provocative or unilateral attempt” to change the status quo even as Japan scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its airspace. During the second in-person meeting of the Quad leaders here, Prime Minister Modi, President Biden, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and Australia’s newly elected PM Anthony Albanese exchanged views about KEY DECISIONS NEXT IN-PERSON SUMMIT IN AUSTRALIA IN 2023 New Indo-Pacific partnership for maritime domain awareness $524 million agreement for new vaccines Fellowship for 100 students to study in US from 2023 New MoU on 5G Supplier Diversification Quad Satellite Data Portal to help other countries CHINA, RUSSIA PLANES CONDUCT ‘AIR PATROLS’ Chinese and Russian warplanes on Tuesday conducted joint air patrols over the Sea of Japan as leaders of Quad held summit in Tokyo, in an apparent attempt to send a message of unity between Beijing and Moscow. $50-BN INFRA PUSH ■ Summit decided to extend $50 billion of infrastructure assistance and investment in Indo-Pacific in next five years. NO CRITICISM OF RUSSIA | 26/11, PATHANKOT ATTACKS CONDEMNED developments in the IndoPacific region and global issues of mutual interest. “We strongly oppose any coercive, provocative or unilateral actions that seek to continued on page 10 edit: indo-pacific trade forum FB’s Zuckerberg suedoverbreach of personal data Washington, May24 The District of Columbia (DC) on Monday sued Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, seeking to hold him personally liable for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, a privacy breach of millions of Facebook users’ personal data that became a major corporate and political scandal. DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed the civil lawsuit against Zuckerberg in the DC Superior Court. The lawsuit maintains that Zuckerberg directly participated in important company decisions and was aware of the potential dangers of sharing users' data, such as occurred in the case involving data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica. INSIDE